21Shares Launches Crypto Staking ETP on Swiss Exchange BX

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Swiss cryptocurrency firm 21Shares is betting on proof-of-stake (PoS) coins by launching a new crypto exchanged (ETP) product dedicated to staking.

On January 18, the company launched the 21Shares Staking Basket Index ETP, a crypto staking index designed to track up to 10 PoS cryptocurrencies. The ETP immediately begins trading on the local exchange BX Swiss under the symbol STAKE.

At launch, 21Shares STAKE ETP tracks six digital assets, including BNB (BNB), Cardano (ADA), Cosmos (ATOM), Polkadot (DOT), Solana (SOL), and Tezos (XTZ). The index will be rebalanced semi-annually in March and September, depending on market fluctuations.

With the addition of STAKE, 21Shares and its parent company, 21.co, now provide 47 crypto ETP products on 12 exchanges in nine countries. ETPs aim to provide investors with a safe and secure way to gain exposure to crypto by providing an alternative to investing directly in crypto.

STAKE provides value to investors by using the assets of ETPs to generate a passive return that can deliver additional returns by contributing to network security, said Arthur Krause, director of ETP product at 21.co.

The launch of STAKE ETP comes a few years after 21Shares began experimenting with ETP staking. In 2019, 21Shares launched the 21Shares Tezos Staking ETP (AXTZ) and launched the 21Shares Solana Staking ETP (ASOL) in June 2021.

Both commodities saw a significant decline in 2022, in line with the bear market. However, ETPs have performed well in the first weeks of 2023, with year-to-date performance up 38% for AXTZ and 78% for ASOL.

Related: Ethereum Founder Says He Hopes Solana Has a Chance to Thrive

Krause pointed out that assets like Solana, which are largely tied to the collapse of the FTX exchange, had no impact on 21Shares products, saying:

Solana, like virtually all other crypto assets, saw significant price declines in 2022, but suffered no fundamental depreciation that would prevent its inclusion in the index. “

The launch of STAKE comes after some major global regulators raised concerns about cryptocurrency staking. In September 2022, US Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler argued that crypto staking was a lot like lending, referring to massive failures in the crypto lending industry in the middle of the 2022 bear market. The Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand also banned crypto companies from offering staking and lending services in September 2022.

To be clear, the 21Shares Staking Basket ETP does not engage in any lending, Krause pointed out. He added that staking is a crypto-native strategy allowing investors to pledge assets to support the validation process of blockchain transactions, while lending is a traditional financial strategy where lenders are compensated for the risk that assets they lend are not returned.

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